Bike Accessories – Page 6 – Palm Beach Bike Tours

August 18, 2009August 18, 2009

Surly Long Haul Trucker Second Stem

To make more room on my Surly Long Haul Trucker’s cockpit, I added a sec0nd stem that holds my Arkel Small Handlebar bag, bell, AirZound horn and my video camera mount.

I described it when I first got installed it and posted links to some other folks who had done it.

Reader wants to know more about second stem

David Driscoll left me a comment:

HEY THERE! I contacted once before some time ago about your Surly LHT. Thanks to your help, I purchased one… and so far am loving it. It seems a little big at times.. I am only 5′5… but it is the right size as the others were too small…

I have back and front racks with Arkel Bags. And a front Arkel bag and trunk. Got the Green bike an black bags. I had top brake levers put in.

NOW I can’t put my front bag on or my computer, light, etc…

I see your two extra bars so to speak. I tried to print out the pics to take to my bike shop but they way the pop up I can’t do so. Could you e mail me the pics and info on what kind these are and how you did them. They are perfect.

I am getting ready to do a bike tour through Glacier National Park in 2 weeks… so my time is running out. :-) Going for 4 days. I just did a weekend bike ride from San Simeon, CA to Big Sur, CA on the coast. It was beautiful.

Thanks a million for any help you can offer me on these bars. AND for all your info on the site. BIG HELP.

David Driscoll

Second stem made up spare parts

There’s nothing special or exotic about my set up. I had enough room on my stem and primary handlebar stem to take out a couple of spacers and slide in a stem off my kid’s Bianchi. Wayne at my LBS had a mountain bike handlebar in his junk drawer and he cut it off short enough to go between my drops.

I was afraid I’d have to drill a hole in the second stem for the brake cable, but Wayne was able to add an accessory that changed the angle enough to clear the stem. (Since the second stem really isn’t carrying much weight, it wouldn’t have hurt it to drill the hole.)

Great for holding Arkel handlebar bag

Even if I didn’t carry the kitchen sink, the second bar is a great place to mount my handlebar bag.

It lowers the center of gravity slightly and allows a bar-mounted be-seen light to shoot over the top of it.

Dave, if this doesn’t help, let me know and I’ll give it another shot.

August 4, 2009

VO Grand Cru Seat Post Adds Comfort to LHT

My kids have heard all the stories about how I delivered newspapers when I was 12-years-old. My route was uphill both ways, covered in ice and snow year-round except for those days when eggs were frying on the pavement. And, of course, I was tough enough that I could do it on a single-speed Schwinn without a seat.

I traded my Schwinn for a Surly

John Palmquist checking my bike fit measurements

I’m not that tough these days.

I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker just because it was designed for long distance comfort. I ride with a Brooks Champion Flyer leather saddle because the springs absorb the bumps and road buzz and the leather molds itself to me, not the other way around.

Lance Armstrong is know as Mr. Millimeter because he is very precise in the way his bike is set up. And, it’s true. Once you’ve been riding a lot, you can tell when something is out by a 16th of an inch.

The saddle is one of the three points you contact your bike (saddle, pedals and handlebars) and it’s the place where you can be comfortable OR in agony.

Tilt is important

In addition to saddle height, there’s also how far fore and aft it goes and the tilt of the saddle. Tilt it too far down and you feel like you’re sliding off it. Tilt it too far back and the nose of the saddle digs into places you don’t want it digging.

Most seat tubes (the stem-like thing that the seat attaches to) have only one bolt to control all those adjustments. The up and down piece usually has notches in it. If your preferred angle hits one of those notches, you’re good; if not, you aren’t quite as comfortable as you could be.

Brooks saddles with springs, like mine, are usually ridden slightly nose-high. Mine was close to right using the seat post that came with my LHT, but I read a lot of discussions on the phred list and the Surly group recommending posts that have two bolts and no notches to allow more precise adjustments and that have more “setback.”

Velo Orange’s Grand Cru got high marks

Here’s the official description

These polished two bolt seat posts have a generous 30.2mm of setback, among the longest ever. This is very important for those who ride Brooks saddles which have very little fore-and-aft adjustment due to the short rails.

The VO posts are internally ovalized to reduce weight to 254gms. The adjustment is from the bottom and the two bolt design makes it easy to precisely adjust the seat angle. Also note that the head is integral with the post, not pressed on as on many modern posts. This makes them stronger and lighter. The quality and finish is second to none.

27.2mm only x 300mm. Maximum height (above the min. insert line) is about 23cm.

Grand Cru sure is pretty

The seat post sure was shiny and pretty.

You can see how the two bolts will allow much better precision.

Crank down on the back one to raise the nose; tighten the front one to lower it. Because there are no notches, there are no limits an infinite number of fine adjustments.

Take careful measurements

The first step in the transition was to not mess up the careful fit I had gotten when I bought the bike.

I wanted to duplicate as closely as possible the old seat height and setback. I would eyeball the tilt and adjust it to feeling.

The actual measurements weren’t important. I was just going for the relative adjustments. I used an old-fashioned wooden folding ruler to nail the distances.

My first pass was pretty close

When I took it out for a spin, I needed to raise the seat by about an eighth of an inch. The fore-aft was OK and the tilt was good right away.

I’m happy with the product and the result.

August 4, 2009

Is It Going to Rain on My Surly LHT?

I was doing a quick loop of the Palm Beach Lake Trail the other afternoon when I ran into a light rain shower.

My Canon FS100 video camera came off the bars and into the Arkel Handlbar bag where it would be safe and dry unless the rain got serious.

I covered up my Arkel Trail Rider trunk bag with its built-in rain cover since there wasn’t anything back there I’d need right away. I pulled out my Campmor Rain Cape and stuffed it into a bottle cage “just in case.”

I figured I’d put the cape on first and use it to protect my handlebar bag while I pulled its rain cover on if things got REALLY damp. Since my bottom amply protected my Brooks Champion Flyer saddle, I didn’t worry about pulling up my new Aardvark waterproof rain cover.

Of course, all of these preparations made sure that the rain would stop in about half a mile.

Rain in Florida is very spotty.

It can be raining horses and hamsters on one side of the street and have dust bunnies on the other side.

Still, it looked like there was another shower between me and home, so I called the house and asked Lila to fire up the Wifedar. (That’s where she looks out the window to see if water is falling from the sky.)

Wifedar was clear.

Weatherbug showed a small, but intense cell just south of home not moving.

As it turned out, I was in that lucky spot between two rainstorms where the air had cooled down without becoming steamy. I made it home in my half-yellow, semi-dry state.

Life was good.

July 29, 2009

My Brooks Saddle Is Hiding Under an Aardvark

I’ve been using a Carradice saddle cover over my Brooks Champion Flyer saddle for years. It has kept it mostly dry.

I talked about it back in November.

I mentioned earlier in the month that I had been caught in a monsoon on the Freakbike Militia’s Summer of Love Ride. I pulled my saddle cover up, but instead of riding off, which would have offered the saddle some protection from the rain, I cowered under an awning with the rest of the group while my bike was getting poured on.

When I got home, I noticed some wet spots on the leather where the cover had leaked. I wasn’t too concerned, but it came to mind when I saw someone post a message about the Aardvark waterproof saddle cover.

I was buying something else from Velo Orange, so I tacked one onto my order just to check it out.

OK, it’s a saddle cover

It’s black. It’s stretchy.

Short of hitting it with a hose, I won’t know exactly how waterproof it is until the next rain storm.

The Carradice always struck me as being a little tight

My old Carradice cover always fit tightly. Almost too tightly. It had slits cut in the back to enable you to use an old-fashioned saddle bag, but I could never get those to fit over the metal hangers in the back of the saddle.

I could get it to stretch over the saddle, but just barely. Over the years, the elastic around the edges has sags like some of my underwear.

You can see how it barely makes it around the saddle.

The Aardvark cover is a little larger

The Aardvark cover is a little larger than the Carridice and the material has a little more stretch to it.

The nice thing is that it offers more protection to the bottom of the saddle. That’s not a big thing for me because I have fenders to keep water from spraying up from below. It might be of benefit to someone who rides without fenders.

Doesn’t have the little slits

It doesn’t have the little slits to give you a place for the metal hangers for a saddle bag, but I’ll never use one of those anyway.

I kept the old cover jammed up under the saddle when it wasn’t in use and made a safety tether out of an old stainless steel fishing leader looped through the holes in back.

Since the new one doesn’t have the holes, I’ll probably use an old ID badge clip to make sure it doesn’t bounce or blow out.

I’ll file an update the first time I ride in the rain.

July 26, 2009January 12, 2021

Arbus Ring Lock Proves Me a Doofus

I thought the Arbus Ring Lock from Speedy Locksmith would be just the thing for my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It’s a lock that bolts to the seat stays. When you want to secure your bike, you turn a key, pull down on a lever and a metal ring slides out to lock the rear wheel through the spokes.

The only catch is that you have to be smarter than the lock to install it.

They are popular in Europe

Son Matt said he saw lots of them when he was evaluating software in Denmark.

They’re not intended for high-theft areas or for overnight security, but it seemed like just the thing for when you run into the store for a couple of minutes.

I was placing an order with Velo Orange when I saw a listing for the Arbus ring lock. I figured $25 was a small enough investment to risk. If it worked, cool. Either way I’d get a review out of it.

Only four parts

Installation should be a snap. There are only four parts: the lock, two plastic straps and two keys (OK, that’s five parts if you count the keys separately).

I was so confident that it would go smoothly that I used Marine Goop to apply some rubber backing to the lock so it wouldn’t scratch the paint on my LHT and I cut some pieces of innertube for the other places it might rub.

I let the Goop dry overnight and then put the bike up on my Park Tool PCS-10 Repair Rack to attach the lock.

It should lock the wheel through the spokes

Before I got to the hard work, though, I pulled a spare rim off the Cycle Tree and checked out the theory.

Yep, it makes sense. That bike ain’t going anywhere. I don’t think the bad guy could get up enough speed to damage your spokes, either.

I had a NoMo moment

I worked with a guy we nicknamed NoMo. At some point during every call to the Help Desk, he’d say, “I’m no moron. (Pronounced in his drawl as no mo-ron.)

Here’s a rule of thumb: if you have to go around telling folks that you ain’t a mo-ron, there’s a pretty good chance that you are one.

I started off placing all the innertube cushions where I thought they’d go and then I took the plastic strapping that resembles a pipe clamp and started screwing.

First off, even though the groove for the screw driver was fairly deep, it wasn’t long before I had buggered it up pretty good, particularly since I tried about four different variations of how to put it on.

Wrestling that stiff piece of plastic was NOT a task someone should attempt on the Lord’s Day. I was careful to pad the LHT against scratches, but I’m afraid that I may have scorched the paint in a couple of places.

Here’s kinda what it should look like

But, not exactly. The strapping shouldn’t go around the outside of the lock (I don’t think). But, it’ll give you a r0ugh idea of what it would look like.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the thing to look or feel right. The more I changed it around, the more rounded out the plastic strap screw hole got.

I finally decided to bail before I hosed it up completely.

Will I revist the Arbus ring lock?

I may give it another go, but I don’t know if it’s really worth it. The website description says it weighs about 13.5 ounces (385 grams). Even though I’m not overly concerned with weight, I think I could spend those 13.5 ounces better somewhere else.

It might be OK for a commuter bike, but I wouldn’t put it on a tourer.

I’ll send a link to this page to the Velo Orange folks who will probably tell me exactly how I SHOULD have put in on in about three minutes time. If they do, I’ll publish detailed pictures to save someone else my hassles.